Skip to main content

Announcement

First Australians are advised that this record may include images or names of people who have died. It may also contain terms that reflect views which are not considered appropriate today.
Close annoucement

Home

Main navigation

  • Explore the collection
    • Search the collection: RecordSearch
      • What's in the collection
      • Defence and war service records
      • First Australians
      • Immigration and citizenship
      • Proof of arrival records
      • Cabinet
      • Intelligence and security
      • Prime ministers
      • Search for people
      • Visit our other websites
      • #ArchivesAtHome
      • Stories from the archives
  • Help with your research
      • What's in the collection
      • Using the collection
      • Getting started
      • Research centres
      • Research guides
      • Research grants and scholarships
      • Research agents
      • Ask us about the collection
  • Learn
      • School visits
      • Learning resources
      • Competitions and special programs
  • Information management
      • Agency Service Centre
      • Building interoperability
      • Building trust in the public record
      • Check-up survey
      • GAIN Australia
      • Getting started
      • Information governance
      • Information management legislation
      • Information management policies
      • Information management standards
      • Records authorities
      • Types of information and systems
      • Information management and data capabilities
  • Visit us
      • Events and exhibitions
      • Research centres
      • Our locations
      • Cafe Constitution
  • About us
      • Our organisation
      • Our services
      • Members
      • Support us
      • Employment
      • Partnerships
      • Media and publications
      • Contact us
      • Volunteer
  • Toggle search
  • Toggle menu

Offscreen Menu

Menu

MAIN MENU

  • Explore the collection
    • What's in the collection
    • Defence and war service records
    • First Australians
    • Immigration and citizenship
    • Proof of arrival records
    • Cabinet
    • Intelligence and security
    • Prime ministers
    • Search for people
    • Visit our other websites
    • #ArchivesAtHome
    • Stories from the archives
  • Help with your research
    • What's in the collection
    • Using the collection
    • Getting started
    • Research centres
    • Research guides
    • Research grants and scholarships
    • Research agents
    • Ask us about the collection
  • Learn
    • School visits
    • Learning resources
    • Competitions and special programs
  • Information management
    • Agency Service Centre
    • Building interoperability
    • Building trust in the public record
    • Check-up survey
    • GAIN Australia
    • Getting started
    • Information governance
    • Information management legislation
    • Information management policies
    • Information management standards
    • Records authorities
    • Types of information and systems
    • Information management and data capabilities
  • Visit us
    • Events and exhibitions
    • Research centres
    • Our locations
    • Cafe Constitution
  • About us
    • Our organisation
    • Our services
    • Members
    • Support us
    • Employment
    • Partnerships
    • Media and publications
    • Contact us
    • Volunteer

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that the National Archives' website and collection contain the names, images and voices of people who have died.

Some records include terms and views that are not appropriate today. They reflect the period in which they were created and are not the views of the National Archives.

A room with desk and chairs and cataloged books shelved on bookcases around the room.

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Learn
  3. Learning resources
  4. Learning resource themes
  5. First Australians
  6. History
  7. Yolgnu Elder Dhakiyarr Wirrpanda – High Court case

Yolgnu Elder Dhakiyarr Wirrpanda – High Court case

Yolgnu Elder Dhakiyarr Wirrpanda - High Court case.
Yolgnu Elder Dhakiyarr Wirrpanda - High Court case.

Details

Learning resource record

Creator:

Department of the Interior [I], Central Administration

Date:

1932

Citation:

A1, 1933/7639

Keywords:

  • High Court of Australia
  • Northern Territory
  • First Australians

About this record

This is a collage of newspaper cuttings, which include an image of Dhakiyarr Wirrpanda, a Yolgnu elder from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Wirrpanda was the first Indigenous person to have his case heard in the High Court. Charged with murdering a policeman, he had been sentenced to death. Since the crime was committed in the Northern Territory, any appeals made in the territory went straight to the High Court.

Education value

  • Dhakiyarr Wirrpanda was a Yolngu elder and leader whose country was in eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. In April 1934 he was taken into custody in Darwin and charged with the murder of police constable Albert McColl.
  • Dhakiyarr's case drew national and international attention to the treatment of Aboriginal people in Australia. His case was preceded and followed by years of debate about the sufferings of traditional Aboriginals, particularly in northern Australia. Because Dhakiyarr's conviction and sentence were in the Northern Territory, the appeal was to the High Court. This became the first case of an Aboriginal Australian heard in the High Court. The Court's decision overturning the jury's verdict and the judge's sentence affirmed the right of Aboriginal people to a fair trial in Australian courts.
  • The case, however, ended in tragedy for Dhakiyarr and his family. On 8 November 1934 the High Court directed that Dhakiyarr be released and returned to his country. Within 24 hours of his release from gaol Dhakiyarr vanished. No one knows what happened to him, but some believe he was murdered. Nearly 70 years later, in June 2003, the Wirrpanda family held a Wukidi or burial ceremony in Darwin, to liberate his spirit and cleanse those involved in his death. A Wukidi ceremony is part of Yolngu law, and resolves a conflict between tribes that have wronged each other.
  • Dhakiyarr's trial and appeal were not the only catalyst for the important changes in Aboriginal administration later in the 1930s. Events of 1933–34 followed years of criticism of the federal government for failing to protect Northern Territory Aborigines, and years of vigorous attempts to improve the system of justice for them.
  • Five years earlier, police retaliation against Aboriginals who killed a white prospector on Coniston Station in Central Australia drew national and international attention. The much publicised 'Coniston Massacre' was followed by public outcry over what many called a 'whitewash' – the police involved admitted to 17 Aboriginal deaths, but were exonerated by a Board of Enquiry.
  • In the years following Dhakiyarr's trial, a number of other amendments to the Northern Territory Ordinance were enacted with the aim of improving the system of justice for Aboriginal people. The Australian Association for the Amelioration of Native Races (AAANR) was pushing for Commonwealth control to end the muddle of state Aboriginal administrations pursuing different policies. The first Conference of Commonwealth and state authorities to try to coordinate state policies was held in Canberra in 1937. AAANR also opposed encroachment on reserves by whites, including miners, argued that interpreters should not be 'police boys' and that Aboriginal women should not be forced to give evidence against their husbands. Partly in answer to these demands, the government amended the Northern Territory Criminal Code in 1937 to prohibit forcing any Aboriginal living as a 'husband, wife or consort' to give evidence against his or her spouse.
  • The reforms that followed Dhakiyarr's case responded to long-term problems as well as to the specific conduct of Judge Wells at the trial. Dhakiyarr's case, the unjust court procedures and the consequences for Dhakiyarr accelerated the process of bringing long overdue reforms to the legal system.

Acknowledgments

Learning resource text © Education Services Australia Limited and the National Archives of Australia 2010.

Related themes

Theme

Vincent Lingiari standing behind a microphone with Gough Whitlam.

History

Explore the experiences of First Australians since 1901, from discriminatory policies and inequality to campaigns for reconciliation, constitutional recognition and land rights.

Theme

The opening of Federal Parliament.

Legislation

Discover how laws have been developed, discussed and implemented, directly affecting people and communities in Australia.

Need help with your research?

Learn how to interpret primary sources, use our collection and more.

Get help

Acknowledgement of Country

The National Archives of Australia acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of Country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to the people, their cultures and Elders past, present and emerging.

Connect with us

  • Facebook Facebook
  • Twitter Twitter
  • YouTube YouTube
  • Instagram Instagram

Subscribe to our newsletter

Site map

  • Contact us

    • +61 2 6212 3600
    • archives@naa.gov.au
    • ABN: 36 889 228 992
  • For researchers

    • RecordSearch
    • What's in the collection
    • Using the collection
    • Ask us a question about our records
    • Getting started with your research
    • Research guides
    • Grants and scholarships
    • Our other websites
  • For government

    • Agency Service Centre
    • Check-up PLUS
    • Building trust in the public record policy
    • Getting started with information management
    • Information governance
    • Records authorities

    For students & teachers

    • School programs
    • Plan a school visit
    • Competitions and special programs
    • Learning resources
  • Shop

    • Browse our products

    Visit us

    • Admission to the Archives is free
    • Events and exhibitions
    • Research centres
    • Our locations
  • About us

    • What we do
    • Our organisation
    • Our services
    • Our history
    • Partnerships
    • Work for us
National Archives of Australia
  • Privacy
  • Freedom of information
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Accessibility
National Archives of Australia